Heirloom Tomato Pico de Gallo (Makes 3 cups)

It’s the final day of our giveaway event for a copy of “The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook” by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett. (To enter, click here)

One of the cookbook recipes we tried this week was fish cakes. Fish and cake are two words I don’t usually put together, but they do make a lovely dinner. Think of crab cakes, but substitute the crab with fish. You can find the recipe for fish cakes on the baby-led website (click on the Recipes tab and scroll down to the last recipe on the page).

This recipe is Henry-approved.

Along with cooking from “The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook”, we are harvesting lots of tomatoes. The fish cake recipe calls for fresh coriander / cilantro, which sparked my idea to pair it with a mild salsa. This turned out to be a delicious combination.

The pico de gallo recipe makes about 3 cups which is much more than you need to accompany the fish cakes. It will keep in the refrigerator for a few days. You can also freeze any extra, and then bring it out on a cold winter day to remind you of sunnier weather.

Fish cakes served with pico de gallo, sweet potato chips, and fresh nectarine.

Ingredients

2 cups heirloom tomatoes

½ cup Walla Walla or red onion

½ cup bell pepper

½ cup fresh cilantro

1 garlic clove, minced

1 lime

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Pinch of kosher salt

Directions

Choose a variety of red, yellow and green tomatoes. Rinse the tomatoes then slice them in half. If the tomatoes have lots of seeds, remove the seeds. Chop the tomatoes into small chunks and put them in a medium-sized bowl.

Choose a bell pepper that contrasts with the color of the tomatoes. Rinse the pepper and onion, then dice them into small pieces. Add these to the tomatoes.

Chop the cilantro. Mince the garlic clove. Combine these with the vegetables.

*If not serving immediately, stop at this point. Refrigerate the vegetable mixture in an airtight container.

Juice the lime. Add lime juice, oil and salt to the salsa. Stir well. Serve immediately.

Henry munches on fish cakes and pico de gallo.

How your kids can help

1-year old: Smelling the bell pepper, onion, cilantro, garlic and lime. These are very fragrant ingredients. See how your little one reacts to each of the different scents.
2-year old: Mixing the salsa.
3-year old: Juicing the lime.
4-year old: Measuring the ingredients.
5-year old: Chopping the cilantro with scissors.

Comments

The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook

UPDATE (10/2/12): Unfortunately, I did not hear back from our original winner. Congratulations to our alternate winner for "The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook" -- Robin Pfefer. UPDATE (9/29/12): I am happy to announce that Kashia Clopper is the winner of "The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook". When I was first thinking about using the Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) model for Henry, I was unsure about whether it would really work. I was excited about BLW’s claims of less stressful meals that the whole family could share together. Plus, I was all for encouraging Henry to gain new skills by learning about the shapes, textures, colors, smells and flavors of food. This sounded ideal in theory, but would it work in practice? After some fun but ineffective attempts at letting Henry feed himself, I went in search of resources to learn more about BLW. I needed to learn how to prepare meals for our family in which Henry could participate. That’s when I found “ The Baby-Led ...

Do Your Kids Eat Everything?

UPDATE (3/15/2013): Congratulations to Kia as the random drawing winner in this giveaway! Thank you to all those who entered this contest. Before we began our food adventure with Henry, Daddy and I had many conversations about how to encourage Henry to become “a good eater.” After watching other parents constantly struggle with their toddlers, we wanted to know if there was anything we could do from the start to prevent picky eating. That’s when we read “ French Kids Eat Everything ” by Karen Le Billon . The book is an easy and enjoyable read about the year that Karen’s family spent in France and how it changed the way her family eats. The heart of the book explores the 10 French Food Rules for raising happy, healthy eaters. “French Kids Eat Everything” sparked numerous discussions at our dinner table about how our family eats. We have become more conscious of our assumptions about food and how that will influence Henry’s understanding of mealtimes. In addition,...

Tuesday Tip for Picky Eaters: Set a good example

This week’s Tuesday Tip for Picky Eaters: Set a good example. As parents, we are the first role models for Henry. He will learn from our example, so Daddy and I need to eat our fruits and vegetables too. I am not a big fan of mango, but I let Henry watch me eat it with a smile on my face. Then he wants to try some mango too. Henry is more likely to eat fruits and vegetables when he sees Mommy and Daddy eat them too. A recent study confirmed that when parents lead by example their children have a more nutritious diet. The best way to inspire healthy eating habits is to demonstrate them first-hand to your children. Another study found that when parents ate an extra serving of fruit or vegetables each day, their child ate an additional half serving. Yes, it is important to talk with kids about food. But don’t just tell your child to eat their vegetables, let them see you eating a balanced meal that includes plenty of fruits and veggies. It may not always seem like it,...

How to Feed a Henry

Search This Blog